{"api_version":"1","generated_at":"2026-04-23T01:00:09+00:00","cve":"CVE-2023-40581","urls":{"html":"https://cve.report/CVE-2023-40581","api":"https://cve.report/api/cve/CVE-2023-40581.json","docs":"https://cve.report/api","cve_org":"https://www.cve.org/CVERecord?id=CVE-2023-40581","nvd":"https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2023-40581"},"summary":{"title":"CVE-2023-40581","description":"yt-dlp is a youtube-dl fork with additional features and fixes. yt-dlp allows the user to provide shell command lines to be executed at various stages in its download steps through the `--exec` flag. This flag allows output template expansion in its argument, so that metadata values may be used in the shell commands. The metadata fields can be combined with the `%q` conversion, which is intended to quote/escape these values so they can be safely passed to the shell. However, the escaping used for `cmd` (the shell used by Python's `subprocess` on Windows) does not properly escape special characters, which can allow for remote code execution if `--exec` is used directly with maliciously crafted remote data. This vulnerability only impacts `yt-dlp` on Windows, and the vulnerability is present regardless of whether `yt-dlp` is run from `cmd` or from `PowerShell`. Support for output template expansion in `--exec`, along with this vulnerable behavior, was added to `yt-dlp` in version 2021.04.11. yt-dlp version 2023.09.24 fixes this issue by properly escaping each special character. `\\n` will be replaced by `\\r` as no way of escaping it has been found. It is recommended to upgrade yt-dlp to version 2023.09.24 as soon as possible. Also, always be careful when using --exec, because while this specific vulnerability has been patched, using unvalidated input in shell commands is inherently dangerous. For Windows users who are not able to upgrade: 1. Avoid using any output template expansion in --exec other than {} (filepath). 2. If expansion in --exec is needed, verify the fields you are using do not contain \", | or &. 3. Instead of using --exec, write the info json and load the fields from it instead.","state":"PUBLIC","assigner":"security-advisories@github.com","published_at":"2023-09-25 19:15:00","updated_at":"2023-09-27 14:48:00"},"problem_types":["CWE-78"],"metrics":[],"references":[{"url":"https://github.com/yt-dlp/yt-dlp-nightly-builds/releases/tag/2023.09.24.003044","name":"https://github.com/yt-dlp/yt-dlp-nightly-builds/releases/tag/2023.09.24.003044","refsource":"MISC","tags":[],"title":"Release yt-dlp nightly 2023.09.24.003044 · yt-dlp/yt-dlp-nightly-builds · GitHub","mime":"text/html","httpstatus":"200","archivestatus":"404"},{"url":"https://github.com/yt-dlp/yt-dlp/commit/de015e930747165dbb8fcd360f8775fd973b7d6e","name":"https://github.com/yt-dlp/yt-dlp/commit/de015e930747165dbb8fcd360f8775fd973b7d6e","refsource":"MISC","tags":[],"title":"[core] Prevent RCE when using `--exec` with `%q` (CVE-2023-40581) · yt-dlp/yt-dlp@de015e9 · GitHub","mime":"text/html","httpstatus":"200","archivestatus":"404"},{"url":"https://github.com/yt-dlp/yt-dlp/releases/tag/2021.04.11","name":"https://github.com/yt-dlp/yt-dlp/releases/tag/2021.04.11","refsource":"MISC","tags":[],"title":"Release yt-dlp 2021.04.11 · yt-dlp/yt-dlp · GitHub","mime":"text/html","httpstatus":"200","archivestatus":"200"},{"url":"https://github.com/yt-dlp/yt-dlp/security/advisories/GHSA-42h4-v29r-42qg","name":"https://github.com/yt-dlp/yt-dlp/security/advisories/GHSA-42h4-v29r-42qg","refsource":"MISC","tags":[],"title":"`--exec` command injection when using `%q` in yt-dlp on Windows · Advisory · yt-dlp/yt-dlp · GitHub","mime":"text/html","httpstatus":"200","archivestatus":"200"},{"url":"https://github.com/yt-dlp/yt-dlp/releases/tag/2023.09.24","name":"https://github.com/yt-dlp/yt-dlp/releases/tag/2023.09.24","refsource":"MISC","tags":[],"title":"Release yt-dlp 2023.09.24 · yt-dlp/yt-dlp · GitHub","mime":"text/html","httpstatus":"200","archivestatus":"200"},{"url":"https://www.cve.org/CVERecord?id=CVE-2023-40581","name":"CVE Program record","refsource":"CVE.ORG","tags":["canonical"]},{"url":"https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2023-40581","name":"NVD vulnerability detail","refsource":"NVD","tags":["canonical","analysis"]}],"affected":[],"timeline":[],"solutions":[],"workarounds":[],"exploits":[],"credits":[],"nvd_cpes":[{"cve_year":"2023","cve_id":"40581","vulnerable":"-1","versionEndIncluding":"","cpe1":"cpe","cpe2":"2.3","cpe3":"o","cpe4":"microsoft","cpe5":"windows","cpe6":"-","cpe7":"*","cpe8":"*","cpe9":"*","cpe10":"*","cpe11":"*","cpe12":"*","cpe13":"*"},{"cve_year":"2023","cve_id":"40581","vulnerable":"1","versionEndIncluding":"","cpe1":"cpe","cpe2":"2.3","cpe3":"a","cpe4":"yt-dlp_project","cpe5":"yt-dlp","cpe6":"*","cpe7":"*","cpe8":"*","cpe9":"*","cpe10":"*","cpe11":"*","cpe12":"*","cpe13":"*"}],"vendor_comments":[],"enrichments":{"kev":null,"epss":null,"legacy_qids":[{"cve":"CVE-2023-40581","qid":"506289","title":"Alpine Linux Security Update for yt-dlp"},{"cve":"CVE-2023-40581","qid":"995405","title":"Python (Pip) Security Update for yt-dlp (GHSA-42h4-v29r-42qg)"}]},"source_records":{"cve_program":{"data_version":"4.0","data_type":"CVE","data_format":"MITRE","CVE_data_meta":{"ID":"CVE-2023-40581","ASSIGNER":"security-advisories@github.com","STATE":"PUBLIC"},"description":{"description_data":[{"lang":"eng","value":"yt-dlp is a youtube-dl fork with additional features and fixes. yt-dlp allows the user to provide shell command lines to be executed at various stages in its download steps through the `--exec` flag. This flag allows output template expansion in its argument, so that metadata values may be used in the shell commands. The metadata fields can be combined with the `%q` conversion, which is intended to quote/escape these values so they can be safely passed to the shell. However, the escaping used for `cmd` (the shell used by Python's `subprocess` on Windows) does not properly escape special characters, which can allow for remote code execution if `--exec` is used directly with maliciously crafted remote data. This vulnerability only impacts `yt-dlp` on Windows, and the vulnerability is present regardless of whether `yt-dlp` is run from `cmd` or from `PowerShell`. Support for output template expansion in `--exec`, along with this vulnerable behavior, was added to `yt-dlp` in version 2021.04.11. yt-dlp version 2023.09.24 fixes this issue by properly escaping each special character. `\\n` will be replaced by `\\r` as no way of escaping it has been found. It is recommended to upgrade yt-dlp to version 2023.09.24 as soon as possible. Also, always be careful when using --exec, because while this specific vulnerability has been patched, using unvalidated input in shell commands is inherently dangerous. For Windows users who are not able to upgrade: 1. Avoid using any output template expansion in --exec other than {} (filepath). 2. If expansion in --exec is needed, verify the fields you are using do not contain \", | or &. 3. Instead of using --exec, write the info json and load the fields from it instead.\n"}]},"problemtype":{"problemtype_data":[{"description":[{"lang":"eng","value":"CWE-78: Improper Neutralization of Special Elements used in an OS Command ('OS Command Injection')","cweId":"CWE-78"}]}]},"affects":{"vendor":{"vendor_data":[{"vendor_name":"yt-dlp","product":{"product_data":[{"product_name":"yt-dlp","version":{"version_data":[{"version_affected":"=","version_value":">= 2021.04.11, < 2023.09.24"},{"version_affected":"=","version_value":"< nightly 2023.09.24.003044"}]}}]}}]}},"references":{"reference_data":[{"url":"https://github.com/yt-dlp/yt-dlp/security/advisories/GHSA-42h4-v29r-42qg","refsource":"MISC","name":"https://github.com/yt-dlp/yt-dlp/security/advisories/GHSA-42h4-v29r-42qg"},{"url":"https://github.com/yt-dlp/yt-dlp/commit/de015e930747165dbb8fcd360f8775fd973b7d6e","refsource":"MISC","name":"https://github.com/yt-dlp/yt-dlp/commit/de015e930747165dbb8fcd360f8775fd973b7d6e"},{"url":"https://github.com/yt-dlp/yt-dlp-nightly-builds/releases/tag/2023.09.24.003044","refsource":"MISC","name":"https://github.com/yt-dlp/yt-dlp-nightly-builds/releases/tag/2023.09.24.003044"},{"url":"https://github.com/yt-dlp/yt-dlp/releases/tag/2021.04.11","refsource":"MISC","name":"https://github.com/yt-dlp/yt-dlp/releases/tag/2021.04.11"},{"url":"https://github.com/yt-dlp/yt-dlp/releases/tag/2023.09.24","refsource":"MISC","name":"https://github.com/yt-dlp/yt-dlp/releases/tag/2023.09.24"}]},"source":{"advisory":"GHSA-42h4-v29r-42qg","discovery":"UNKNOWN"},"impact":{"cvss":[{"attackComplexity":"HIGH","attackVector":"NETWORK","availabilityImpact":"HIGH","baseScore":8.4,"baseSeverity":"HIGH","confidentialityImpact":"HIGH","integrityImpact":"HIGH","privilegesRequired":"NONE","scope":"CHANGED","userInteraction":"REQUIRED","vectorString":"CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:H/PR:N/UI:R/S:C/C:H/I:H/A:H","version":"3.1"}]}},"nvd":{"publishedDate":"2023-09-25 19:15:00","lastModifiedDate":"2023-09-27 14:48:00","problem_types":["CWE-78"],"metrics":{"baseMetricV3":{"cvssV3":{"version":"3.1","vectorString":"CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:N/UI:R/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H","attackVector":"LOCAL","attackComplexity":"LOW","privilegesRequired":"NONE","userInteraction":"REQUIRED","scope":"UNCHANGED","confidentialityImpact":"HIGH","integrityImpact":"HIGH","availabilityImpact":"HIGH","baseScore":7.8,"baseSeverity":"HIGH"},"exploitabilityScore":1.8,"impactScore":5.9}},"configurations":{"CVE_data_version":"4.0","nodes":[{"operator":"AND","children":[{"operator":"OR","children":[],"cpe_match":[{"vulnerable":true,"cpe23Uri":"cpe:2.3:a:yt-dlp_project:yt-dlp:*:*:*:*:*:*:*:*","versionStartIncluding":"2021.04.11","versionEndExcluding":"2023.09.24","cpe_name":[]}]},{"operator":"OR","children":[],"cpe_match":[{"vulnerable":false,"cpe23Uri":"cpe:2.3:o:microsoft:windows:-:*:*:*:*:*:*:*","cpe_name":[]}]}],"cpe_match":[]}]}},"legacy_mitre":{"record":null,"notes":[]}}}